Car shoppers have questions. Do you have answers? And if you do, how quickly are you getting them to those customers? A new survey commissioned by customer lifecycle management platform Impel found auto dealers are lagging in responding to inquiries from online car shoppers, affecting customer satisfaction and sales. Perhaps the most significant finding is […] [Read More]

Car Wars, a provider of call-tracking, texting and phone-handling systems, announced an integration with Reynolds and Reynolds’ FOCUS CRM, designed to enhance dealership customer service and sales performance through inbound and outbound phone call management. The integration allows external phone systems to integrate with FOCUS, which the companies said will provide more than 2,000 dealerships […] [Read More]

After previously sharing four key reasons why dealerships should prioritize a mobile-friendly website, DealerFire this week returned to the subject of store websites, identifying 10 design elements that are essential for dealerships to thrive online. DealerFire began its recommendations by emphasizing a dealership website needs to look great and function well on any device, whether […] [Read More]

BMW, Ford, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Subaru and Toyota. Those eight nameplates all gained high honors, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Automotive Brand Loyalty Study released on Wednesday. J.D. Power said Porsche ranked highest among premium brand car owners for a third consecutive year, with a 57.5% loyalty rate. Mercedes-Benz (49.0%) came in […] [Read More]

LegalShield said this week when examining consumers’ finances that the “jump in stress is not a fluke.” Following the steepest surge in the study’s 22-year history, the August reading of the LegalShield Consumer Stress Legal Index (CSLI) ticked up 0.1 to 67.7, making it the highest level recorded since November 2020. That upward movement came […] [Read More]

A week after the Canadian used wholesale market dropped by nearly half a percentage point, the decline for the week ending Sept. 21 was not quite so steep. Canadian Black Book’s weekly Market Insights reported the market fell by 0.34% overall, following a 0.45% slide the previous week. All but two of the 22 vehicle […] [Read More]

AutoCanada has taken the next step on what it hopes is the road to recovery with the restructuring of its RightRide division. The dealership group said the adjustments to its used-car/subprime finance operation include closing seven unprofitable locations — more than half of the division’s 13 stores — as part of its overall “strategic shift […] [Read More]

Fleet management provider Merchants Fleet has selected fleet orchestration company Ridecell and its Ridecell 360 fleet solutions to optimize the management of its short-term fleet. In a news release, Merchants Fleet said the strategic partnership will significantly enhance operational efficiency and employee productivity to support its continued growth in the short-term leasing sector. The companies […] [Read More]

Dealerships having loaner vehicles connected with their service departments isn’t new since they have been valuable to boost customer retention and satisfaction. But potential risk when offering these loaners has grown significantly in recent times. Steve Levine, an owner and chief legal and compliance officer of Ignite Consulting Partners, explained what’s been happening in this […] [Read More]

While some specific vehicle segments continue to gain value, Black Book spotted wholesale price declines often seen this time of year. Analysts said, “the market shifted towards typical seasonal expectations,” when wholesale values softened by 0.17% a week ago. Black Book continued in its newest installment of Market Insights that, “Despite last week’s drop, the […] [Read More]